The Democrat said Monday it's the lowest since he took office in 2009. It topped out in 2010 at $9.9 billion.

But the governor's office does not count health care bills until they're past due. Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican, includes Medicaid invoices as soon as the state is billed. That takes the total backlog to $4.4 billion.

Quinn says his "tough decisions" helped draw down the backlog. He says the state "is in a stronger financial position than we were five years ago and we have more work to do."

The governor's office says the typical backlog — based on a 30-day billing standard — is about $2.2 billion.